Fishing Season
If you are an avid fisherman, we recommend booking 4 trips throughout the course of the fishing season to experience all the Long Island Sound has to offer.
(Scroll to the bottom for detailed booking tips.)
“Spring Run” – May – Early July
Striped Bass – Black Sea Bass
“Spring Migration” – Tremendous Striped Bass and Black Sea Bass fishing! Jumbo Scup and Fluke too! – Boats from Eastern CT, Western CT and New York travel to fish our waters every single day! – Fishing is often –As Good As It Gets! *Book early for these trips! Alot of dates are booked over a year in advance!
“Summer Season” – Early July – Mid September
Striped Bass, Bluefish, Porgies and Black Sea Bass
All trips are mixed species trips with effort focused on Striped Bass and Bluefish for approximately half the trip. We then target our seasonal Porgies and Black Sea Bass the remaining half of the trip. Every trip is a surprise! *The summer fishing season is the perfect time for family trips and the perfect time to introduce kids to fishing. Great weather and fast action bottom fishing!
“Fall Run” There are 2 parts to our Fall Season.
*Mid September – Mid October
Striped Bass, Bluefish, Porgies and Black Sea Bass
“Fall Migration” – The best fishing of the year! – The water temperature drops and the angle of the sun changes. This triggers an instinctive feeding behavior for Stripers and Blues to fatten up for the winter. They gorge themselves on every type of baitfish imaginable as they make their way South. – Fishing is often –As Good As It Gets!
*Mid October – Mid November
Blackfish (Tautog) – Striped Bass
Blackfish have a “cult following” and for good reason; they’re lots of fun! It’s always exciting Blackfishing as this is the final act of the season and very different than the rest of the fish we target. – Different areas to fish, different methods, anchoring, different bait, different lures, different hooks and different weather! Yes, some mornings are chilly, but these late fall trips often provide some of the most beautiful days you will ever experience on the water. …..and don’t worry about the cold, we have a heated cabin!
Booking Tips
*Captain’s Recommendation
Due to less people fishing and heavy boat traffic, booking your charter on a weekday will ALMOST ALWAYS produce better results than a weekend!
When is the best time for Stripers?
We catch Stripers all season, however the most reliable Striper fishing is during the Spring and Fall migrations. (Spring Run) & (Fall Run).
-Spring Run: Mid May – Mid July
-Fall Run: Mid-September, October, November
a little more detail…
From Mid May – Mid July Striped Bass migrate heavily through our area. We catch stripers virtually every charter regardless of morning or afternoon trip.
During the second half of July and all of August, Striped Bass action is often at times unpredictable and numbers vary greatly from trip to trip. Weather, such as sunny or overcast conditions, heat waves and the like, along with the quantity of available forage on any given day all play a factor. Some days the Striper fishing is amazing, others it is not. Book a morning trip for Stripers this time of year to have the advantage.
Once it starts to feel like Fall by mid-September, the water temperature starts to drop and the Fall migration begins. Similar to the Spring migration, we catch Stripers virtually every charter regardless of morning or afternoon trip.
When is the best time for Bluefish?
We catch Bluefish sporadically throughout the Spring. Then starting in late July/early August, it’s game on! One of the hardest fighting fish you will ever encounter, thick schools of Blues will be jumping, pulling drags and testing the limits of our tackle, giving our customers incredible action-packed trips all the way until the end of the season. We catch bluefish virtually every charter regardless of morning or afternoon trip.
When is the best time for Black Sea Bass?
Black Sea Bass action is hot and heavy from mid-May, through all of June, until typically right around the 4th of July. You are just about guaranteed to go home with a cooler full! (The bottom is just about paved with them!) By mid- July the majority of Sea Bass leave the area. For the remainder of the season, we still catch them virtually every charter, but the numbers of keepers are very unpredictable. Some days the fishing is incredible, other days we catch just a few. If you’re specifically looking to target Black Sea Bass, definitely book a May or June Spring trip. Don’t worry about the time of day. We catch them equally regardless of morning or afternoon trip.
When is the best time for Porgies?
We catch Porgies all season long. In May and June, we catch them regularly when Sea Bass fishing, but numbers are inconsistent from trip to trip.
When the Sea Bass begin to leave in early July, the Porgies start to move in. By late July, they are so abundant, we can just about sink the boat with them. They remain plentiful until right around the 3rd week of October and then they will disappear in what seems like an overnight move. Porgies are some of the most fun fishing you will ever have, and they make some of the best fish taco’s you will ever eat! We catch them equally regardless of morning or afternoon trip.
When is the best time for Blackfish? (Tautog)
The State of Connecticut opens the Blackfish season in early October every year.
Blackfish are a very popular fish that have their own cult following. We have many customers that specifically want to target just Blackfish and Blackfish only. Because the Porgies and Sea Bass migrate out around the 3rd week of October, our advice to these customers is to book your trips starting from around October 20th and later. Blackfish are our primary target species on all trips for the remainder of the season with Striped Bass being caught regularly as well.
What about Fluke???
Fluke are more of an incidental catch these days. Up until around 2011 we used to catch many, many Fluke on almost every charter. Then in 2011 the Black Sea Bass biomass decided to move from areas off the Virginia coast to Long Island Sound to spawn. They have returned every year since and now in even greater numbers and of various sizes. Black Sea Bass are bullies, they aren’t afraid of much and tend to bully other fish from wherever they are. They have essentially displaced the Fluke from our area. Our traditional “Fluke spots” are now Black Sea Bass spots. There are still some Fluke around, just not in the quantity required to keep charter guests satisfied. Thankfully Black Sea Bass are fun to catch and are one of the best eating fish in the sea!
Book a trip today, we’d love to have you aboard!
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